Taj Gibson pouring his heart out for Bulls as trade rumors swirl

Taj Gibson pouring his heart out for Bulls as trade rumors swirl

The trade season has started in the NBA with the deal of Serge Ibaka to the Toronto Raptors, so ears were perked up all through the Bulls’ morning shootaround when news made its way through the Advocate Center.

Oh, to be a fly in the mind of Taj Gibson, a man who’s been in the center of trade talks for the Bulls for years. He and Jimmy Butler have been in the middle of trade talk from the start of the season.

With his contract expiring this summer and the trade deadline a week away, the calls will get more intense and the Bulls will likely have a decision to make on their longtime forward.

And Gibson seems to be accepting of his fate, no matter what it is.

“Of course it's gonna get hotter,” said Gibson to CSNChicago.com about the trade talk. “No matter what happens, you're still in the NBA. You're still getting paid a lot of money to play basketball. People don't understand that. They think it's bad half the time. No it's not. It's the same paycheck, just on a different team.”

The same deal the Raptors gave the Orlando Magic for Ibaka — swingman Terrence Ross and a first-round pick (the lesser of the Raptors’ own pick and a pick the Clippers have to convey from a previous deal) — the Bulls had discussed for Gibson last season, sources tell CSNChicago.com.

The exact parameters of such a deal this season were vague but the Bulls were discussing a deal involving Gibson for a first-round pick with the Raptors. However, league sources tell CSNChicago.com that Ross wasn’t involved in these discussions.

Ibaka, like Gibson, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and the Raptors were trying to nail down that power forward spot long-term along with trying to deal with the upcoming free agency of All-Star guard Kyle Lowry.

“I’ve been hearing the chatter for years. But you never know,” said Gibson when asked if he knew the Raptors were interested in him. “I just keep my head straight, focus on the team I’m on at the moment because if you start looking at other teams and other stuff, it kinda gets tricky as hell.”

It’s almost like Gibson has become numb to the speculation, but for someone who cares as much as Gibson does, the thought of “will I be traded or won’t I?” is a natural one.

He tries to keep the amount of real estate it takes up in his head to a minimum, though.

“I can't. I can't (focus on it),” Gibson said. “It's like how Melo's (Carmelo Anthony) going through it right now. You just can't. You just gotta focus on your teammates, your family, have good people around you. Been going through this for eight years, teams trying to get you. It's tough, every year. You never know what's going to happen. Stay professional, stay in the gym, do whatever you can to take your mind off it.”

Gibson admitted that task “is tough” because his everyday life can be littered with random people asking him questions he doesn’t have the answer to, he doesn’t feel the need to run and talk to the front office over every little rumor that he happens to hear about.

“I leave that to my agent and the higher-ups. My agent, (Chicago-based) Mark Bartlestein, let him handle what he gotta handle. We have a good rapport,” Gibson said. “So whatever happens, happens.”

Well aware of the uncertainty surrounding things, it would be understandable if he had a hard time staying emotionally invested with the Bulls franchise — especially seeing how former mates and close friends were shipped out without much fanfare — but he insists his emotional wiring is different.

“No, it’s not,” Gibson said. “Because I care about everybody in the organization. I care about all the young guys, players that fall through here. It's bigger than basketball. I’m real unselfish. I want everybody to get their minutes, get their money and take care of their families, so I’ve never been like that.”

Gibson found himself smack dab in the middle of controversy a couple weeks back, through no fault of his own when Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade voiced their frustrations with the direction of the team after a collapse against the Atlanta Hawks.

Then Rajon Rondo started a fire only matched by Spike Lee in “Do the Right Thing” with his Instagram post, calling out Wade and Butler.

Then came the team meeting that Friday morning before shootaround before the Bulls’ lifeless 100-88 loss to the Miami Heat, where Gibson’s team looked like it didn’t know who was on the other side of the floor that night.

The reason was because so many emotions were spilled out in that morning meeting the Bulls had very little to give in terms of game preparation and performance. And the man who arguably unleashed more emotion than anyone in that meeting was Gibson.

“I was drained because I gave my heart in that meeting,” Gibson said to CSNChicago.com in Oakland after the Bulls lost to Golden State last week. “In general, I just gave my heart. Letting everybody know I loved them.

Gibson sat as he watched the young players air out their grievances to Wade and Butler. And during a moment where he felt like he needed to be heard, Gibson spoke his mind and heart as the longest tenured Bull.

As the one player who could see exactly how and why all sides felt the way they felt.

“Both sides were just going, just talking. I stood up and voiced how I felt,” Gibson said. “It got reciprocated and everybody was like, ‘you know what? (He’s right)’ Because I put up with a lot. I've been putting up with a lot. It's crazy, I can put up with a lot but I can't put up with my teammates battling each other.”

“I was like a guy in the middle, the bridge because they felt like I had experience to tell, speak to Bobby (Portis) and them like I didn't get minutes (early), I should've started (years previously) I felt. I wanted to start early, I wanted to play well and I didn't get my chance. I stayed with the team, I sacrificed. I gave examples and then I gave examples of guys who were leaders, how I loved playing with them.”

Gibson wanted to clear up a perception from the meeting he feels wasn’t conveyed properly in the time after: that the players were jumping on Wade for not practicing more.

It may have been Rondo’s shot in his social media post, but Gibson said they wanted Wade to share more of his knowledge and NBA wisdom. If anyone had the right to ask for more investment from a veteran like Wade, only Gibson had the credentials to do so.

“I was pissed off because it was never about practice. The young guys, they just look up to D-Wade. Dudes love D-Wade,” Gibson said. “That wasn't what I meant, it wasn't what anyone else meant. It was about...wanting to learn more from him. More knowledge. D-Wade is great, has been great.”

Gibson talked about playing with Luol Deng and Joakim Noah, leaders he loved to follow because of their passion and example. He talked about competitively hating Wade before becoming his teammate and now loving the fact he gets to call a champion and former rival a friend.

Same with Rondo, a man who calls Gibson’s name after a rebound more times than a mother calling her son to get home when the street lights come on during a hot summer in Fort Greene, New York.

“Like I hated them (before) but I'm ready to run through a wall, do whatever I can to help them. And that I appreciate them,” Gibson said. “I told them, I broke down in that meeting, I gave it up to everybody because I understood life is too short. Everyday, people are leaving the league and never coming back. There's not that many veterans anymore. Days are numbered, it's only a matter of time, you gotta take what you can get out of it. I'm playing with a Hall of Famer in D-Wade, I told him I appreciated him. Straight up.”

In the time since, Gibson said he’s having some of the most fun he’s had in his career — even as uncertainty and controversy swirls around the present and his own future.

The meeting, as tense and emotional and cathartic as it was, Gibson believes it was necessary and helpful for all involved, not just for the present, but for the young players who’ll need to understand how the NBA works.

“Because it brought guys back to reality,” he said. “At times when you're losing games and you got the city on your back, playing in Chicago is like playing in New York or LA. Once people get in your ear and you're losing games and people booing you, you can't look around, you wanna point fingers. In that meeting it was deep. A lot of love.”

It may have been some tough love, but the love was certainly evident from Gibson’s emotions. Gibson said general manager Gar Forman was taken aback by his words and sentiments and even admitted himself, “that (bleep) took a lot out of me. But they respected it because it came from the heart. (I) gotta be the voice of reason. It's hard on my heart because I care about my teammates and I really love the game. Love the game.”

So no matter if and when that call comes in the next week, Gibson will be prepared no matter the circumstances, but until then he seems to be savoring every aspect of this experience in Chicago with the Bulls and his teammates — even if most aspects of this can be painful and draining.

More muscle, more money, more confidence: Nikola Mirotic ready to show consistency for Bulls

More muscle, more money, more confidence: Nikola Mirotic ready to show consistency for Bulls

Nikola Mirotic didn’t exactly lumber over to the media after the Bulls’ first practice, as a new man armed with a two-year, $27 million deal and 22 pounds worth of additional weight from the summer, the first time in which he didn’t play overseas.

He claimed there were no hard feelings from the summerlong impasse with the Bulls, where his restricted free-agent status prevented him from truly getting to the market, and his career inconsistencies also made it tough for the Bulls to give him an extended contract.

“I knew it was going to happen because with me it’s like every time is the last second. I don’t know why,” Mirotic said. “They made me an offer at the beginning of free agency, so I didn’t take that deal.”

So while his saga dragged along after he couldn’t find suitors, he stayed in Chicago for the most part, adding the bulk—although some would say it was stress weight considering it’s believed Mirotic wanted a deal in the $16-17 million range annually.

“Some people thought I was worried with my contract. No, I was very calm, working here until the middle of August,” Mirotic said. “My weight is feeling great and I’m very excited. I’m looking forward to this season, you know.”

“I’m feeling good. I’ve never felt that strong in my legs, feeling better with the rebounding, and I worked all summer in the low post, especially when I play that pick-and-roll and they switch me, so I need to be available to play in the low post against small guys. I was really working on getting stronger down there so I can finish.”

Coming to Chicago with plenty of fanfare, Mirotic has shown flashes but never the consistency many expected. Slow starts were accompanied by strong finishes after the All-Star break and the cycle of “if Niko can get it right” started all over again—only leading to more frustration when expectations weren’t met.

“I know that you guys (media) are very disappointed. I saw that the last two, three years, those reactions to that,” Mirotic said. “It is what it is. I came back just thinking about what happened. I knew what happened. I worked on all my weaknesses this summer. It’s time to change some things. I’m in a place where I can improve and get better.”

This time last year, the Bulls did everything they could to make Mirotic seize the power forward spot in training camp. Too bad Taj Gibson wasn’t notified and outworked everybody to join the first five.

But Gibson was traded in midseason, Jimmy Butler was traded and Dwyane Wade was bought out Sunday night, leaving Mirotic as somewhat an elder statesman on a team that doesn’t carry any playoff expectations for the season.

Now he’ll have to battle rookie Lauri Markkanen and third-year forward Bobby Portis for minutes at power forward, since it doesn’t appear he’ll play any small forward after playing there sparingly his first two seasons.

One can see Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg playing Mirotic and Markkanen together at center and power forward to have two floor-stretchers—although defense and rebounding will be a concern in the pairing.

“Everything's open right now. Lauri obviously had a great summer,” Hoiberg said. “He's got to work himself back into great shape right now. Basically since the European championships have been over, he's taken time off to recover and regroup and recharge his batteries.

“Bobby Portis has had a great summer. He's been around pretty much every day since the summer league.”

Mirotic said he was notified by management in the exit meetings the team would look different, but didn’t foresee Butler being traded on draft night. Now as long as he stays healthy, he’ll be a primary option on offense and until Zach LaVine makes his Chicago debut—which likely won’t take place until mid-December—he’ll have plenty of time to display his versatility in Hoiberg’s free-flowing system.

“It’s great, especially knowing how Fred wants to play this year,” Mirotic said. “They’re going to play fast, there’s no more like holding the ball, playing isolation. Now it’s more free, like when we used to play with Rajon (Rondo) on that second unit. Just play free and share the basketball. This is how it’s going to look.”

Clearly one who’s aware of the prognosticators who’ve said the Bulls will finish at the bottom of the standings, Mirotic added a bit of a bold statement, although it should be taken with a grain of preseason salt.